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Students donate blood at annual blood drive

Over 100 students flooded the lower gym on Dec. 16 for the Red Cross Club’s annual blood drive. The drive was hosted by the Inova Health Care Center, a non-profit organization.
Preparation for the drive began a month in advance. A week before the drive the Red Cross Club held a meeting where members made posters advertising the drive. Members also got the chance to sign up to help volunteer at the drive. “We had a lot of members who were willing to donate their time and help volunteer at the drive,” senior co-president of Red Cross Club Gurbani Singh said.
The lower gym was transformed into a mini blood bank, with several stations set up. When students arrived at the drive, they were first required to show identification and a signed permission slip before they could go on to donate. Donators were also required to have their blood pressure checked to ensure that they were healthy enough to donate. A few students were told that they could not donate due to their blood pressure. If cleared, students could proceed to move to a donating station.
The blood drive moved along smoothly with a few inconveniences. During first period, one of the employees accidently spilled some of the blood causing slight havoc. Some students also felt as though drawing blood hurt more than it should have. “It was my first time donating and I was really excited because my blood would help someone who legitimately needs it, but it hurt a lot and it wasn’t supposed to. I think the person did it wrong,” senior vice president of Red Cross Club Grace Lee said.
Overall, the blood drive proved to be a success, despite having less turnout than last year.
The Red Cross Club is planning to hold another drive in the spring and is already thinking about how to further improve it. “I want it to be more organized and structured. This last drive was somewhat chaotic; the volunteers weren’t sure what to do and the people who were donating didn’t know where to go,” Lee said.